She Is Mine
by carissima
Summary: This is short and fluffy, because sometimes they need it. C/L set straight after the S3 finale.


**AN: Ugh. I had to write something vaguely fluffly after that season finale. I refuse to call it a series finale. There's no real depth to this, it's short and sappy and I just wanted them to have a moment of happiness, something massively missing since 'Siblings'. UGH.**

"Mine."

How could one word mean so much? How could one word convey emotions greater than the world itself? How could one word erase the pain of the crime she'd just committed? No, that _they_ had committed? Cesare, her beloved brother, had dealt the killing blow, but she had taken Alfonso's final breath. He lay next to her, unmoving and never to smile that sweet smile she'd enjoyed so much when they'd first met.

But there was no room in her thoughts for her dead husband.

One touch and her mind, her heart, her entire body had succumbed to Cesare. The pain had ebbed away, until all she could feel was pleasure and need. Oh, did she need. It had always been there, the need to be with Cesare, the need to make him smile as he only did with her, the need to touch and be touched. It had been there so long that she hadn't noticed when that need had become obsession, for both of them. It simply was. Lucrezia and Cesare Borgia, forever entwined.

* * *

The need to soothe and heal was strong. It always had been with her. As he gently washed away the blood, her husband's blood, he murmured words to her, words he thought would calm her, would bring her back to him. He'd never known fear as he'd felt when he'd called her name, seen her body draped over her dead husbands and heard no reply. The relief when he'd turned her over and seen those beautiful blue eyes staring up at him had been short-lived, for the joy he was so accustomed to when she looked at him was gone, and that frightened him as nothing else could. Not battle, not death, not even his father could inspire fear like his sister could. Long had it been so.

She had spoken such exquisite words to him only a few days ago, words that had made his heart both soar and drop. Then, he'd chosen to be Cesare, big brother and protector, a role he was more comfortable with than any other. Now, with the fear still clutching his heart and making his hands tremble as he bathed her face clean, he let his heart overrule his head and made promises he'd been longing to make to his sister, his soulmate and his own heart.

"You will be naked and clean and bloodless again," he promised her with a ferocity he'd never uttered before. "And mine."

He could feel her stir under his touch and the fear ebbed a little more. She had been so beautifully honest with him and now he needed to repay the debt, if only a little.

"Lucrezia," he murmured, leaning close and pressing his cheek against hers. He felt her shiver and it made his tortured heart leap. "You said, not so long ago, that my touch was the only one that soothed you. Let it soothe you now, Sis."

He trailed his fingers across her now clean cheek and allowed a small smile to play on his lips as he watched her lean into his touch. "God is with us, as you once told me my love, let him sit with us."

"How can God be with us now, of all times, Cesare?" Lucrezia murmured with a heavy sigh. "We have betrayed my husband and his only crime was to love me."

"That is a discussion for another time, my love," Cesare replied, moving back to climb off the bed. At the sound of her protest at the loss of contact, he swiftly bent down to gather her to him and lift her off the bed. "I will deal with the body, sister. You need to rest."

Meek as a lamb, Lucrezia kept her eyes on her darling brother, for she feared looking anywhere else and seeing accusing eyes. "Cesare, are you pulling away from me?"

Startled, Cesare dropped his gaze to meet hers. Feeling too much, needing too much, all he said was a simple "No."

He carried her all through the streets of Rome and to his room in silence, placing her gently on his bed, staying close as he let her go. "Do you have everything you need?"

"You can ask me this now?" Lucrezia wondered as she stared up at him, her eyes wide and wounded.

"I need to make arrangements for your husband," he answered distractedly.

She simply watched him as he watched her, neither willing to break the spell that bound them. Leaning down, he brushed his lips across her cheek, breathing in her scent before turning abruptly and stalking out of the room.

Sighing, she waited for the pain to return, the knowledge that she was responsible for her husband's death.

But it never came. The room was so dominated by Cesare, by his scent, his things, his most private sanctuary that she felt his presence, even as she mourned his absence. Standing up to strip her gown away, she disrobed before sliding under the bedclothes naked, as he'd promised. The emotion of the day caught up with her and she fell asleep, her dreams untroubled.

He stood in the doorway, watching her sleep. He knew she needed to sleep, needed to rest and recuperate. He remembered the pain she'd felt when Djem had died, remembered the anguish that he couldn't take her pain into himself. He remembered the numbness she'd felt when she'd seen Paolo hanging from the rafters and the curses he'd levelled at his reckless and selfish brother. But this time she was different. Was it his touch that soothed her this time?

Moving slowly, he closed the distance between them until he was beside the bed, stroking her blonde curls as they lay spread across the pillows. She was so beautiful, the most beautiful creature he'd ever seen. Even as a child, she had lit up every room she'd danced into, twisting her father and her brother round her little finger without meaning to, without intent, but simply by being herself. Could he have prevented this? Could he have stopped these feelings, these natural feelings that felt so good?

He didn't think so.

It was then that he realised she was naked underneath the bedclothes and had curled herself around his sheets as tightly as possible. After the day he'd had, after the night they'd had together, he was amazed that he could laugh, yet a chuckle escaped his lips. He shucked off his clothes, leaving them to drop where he stood and lifted the sheets, sliding in next to her. She moaned as his body came into contact with hers, before she curled around him. He felt her leg slide between his, felt her arm slide across his chest.

"Will you turn me away this time, brother?" Lucrezia murmured, her voice heavy with sleep.

"Not this time, sister."

"Ask me again."

"Do you have everything you need?" he asked softly, capturing her wandering hands and bringing them to his lips, rubbing them.

"I have my child," Lucrezia began with a smile. "I have my husband," she continued, keeping her gaze locked onto his. "You will be my husband, tonight."

"Every night," Cesare corrected, holding her gaze.

Lucrezia's smile broadened. "Because I am yours."

"You are mine," he repeated, dropping his voice to a growl.

"And what about the nights when you are away from my bed?" she questioned as she moved closer, his vow causing a shiver to run down her spine.

"You said a child would comfort you, sister," Cesare began.

"My husband is dead, my love. And I am not with child," Lucrezia reminded him, her smile fading slightly.

"I can give you a child," Cesare said slowly. "A Borgia child."

Lucrezia closed her eyes and let her head fall back. "No, God would abandon us."

"God is with us, you said it yourself," Cesare replied, shifting so that he could lean across her. "You said you were tired of me pulling away. My heart, I don't want to pull away anymore, I do not think it possible. I cannot leave you now."

Lucrezia lifted her hand to caress his cheek. "Be sure, brother. My heart has been bruised and battered, but if you left me, it would surely break forever."

"Your heart is safe with me, as mine is with you," Cesare swore as he kissed her hand. "I will not leave."

He bent his head towards her, capturing her lips, finally ... finally. The need swirled inside him, rising quickly as it had the night she had come to his bed, and again when he had watched her consummate her marriage. It was all-consuming, this need and love he had for her, and he had never come close to finding it with another.

Lucrezia pulled back slightly, seeking and holding his gaze, burning bright and clear. "Cesare, can we really have a child?"

All at once he switched back to protector, holding her close and stroking her back comfortingly. "You can have anything you desire. You are a Borgia. You are mine."

"Why now, Cesare? Why can I have everything now, when you denied me anything just a few days ago?"

Leaning back, Cesare dipped his head to kiss her hard, making her head spin. "Because I want a kingdom, my love. And who can I pass it onto when I am gone if I have no heir?"

"There would be scandal if anyone knew ..."

"They will not," he promised fiercely. "I will arrange everything, do I not always? But I want a son, Lucrezia. An heir. A Borgia heir."

"And who better to give you a Borgia heir than a Borgia?" Lucrezia laughed, her eyes delighted.

"We will carve out a kingdom, my love, and we shall pass it to our children," Cesare swore. "It will be our secret."

"Kiss me, my love. Let me believe anything is possible," Lucrezia whispered, lifting her head and offering him her mouth.

"Everything is possible," Cesare agreed, his head descending as he captured her mouth possessively. "We can have everything, together."


End file.
